


Can't Take the Sky From Me

by eri_quin



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, BigBro!Kraglin, F/M, Fem!Peter Quill, Genderbending, Overprotective Ravagers, Overprotective!Kraglin, Overprotective!Yondu, Petra Jane Quill, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-06 15:36:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11039124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: Petra Quill just wanted some downtime. Running into a Nova Corp Officer wasn't in the plan. Neither was getting knocked up. So what to do when splitting from the gang with a baby in tow and after some mysterious orb? That's nothing on that same officer attaching himself to her hip!





	1. An Encounter

 

" />

 

If she was grumbling to herself, then she was gonna damn well grumble. She didn't give a crap what Yondu said –if she wanted off that damn ship, she was getting off!

Which led to now, where Petra Jane Quill was finally relaxing on a barstool and enjoying a drink.

So yeah, maybe she had snuck off the Eclector and decided she was going to enjoy a bit of time for herself, without the other Ravagers bugging in on her and being general nuisances and overprotective jackasses.

"Hey, hey! Get me another drink, will ya?" She tossed down some credits, which was rewarded with another pint for her to enjoy.

The door to the bar opened and a group of Nova Corp officers filtered in, laughing good-naturedly while Petra stiffened up at the sight of them. This would just be her luck! Man, don't tell her she was gonna have to worry about a bunch of pricks that could get her arrested, when all she wanted was some time off!

Then again…

She licked her lips as she watched them, admitting to enjoying the sight of the well-fitted uniforms on the very nicely formed bodies of the officers settling down at a table. In particular, there was one officer with a stiff posture, dark hair neatly combed, and the sternest face she'd ever seen (which made her wonder what someone like him was doing at a bar). He was both her type and completely not.

He was obviously a total stiff, someone with no sense of fun or inclination to relax. He was also someone she could see being completely for the rules and wouldn't tolerate any nonsense aka someone boring. But…He was _really_ handsome and had a _really_ nice body. She wouldn't mind at least one night with the guy, and hightail it out of there so she wouldn't have to deal with his personality.

She shook her head. That was suicidal. He was Nova Corp and she was a Ravager. Wrong combination in every way.

Looking up at them, she nervously saw they were whispering and glancing at her, even including Mr. Stern Face. She felt her stomach drop as she realized she might've been too obvious with her staring and they were probably all suspicious as hell. She tensed and looked away, focusing on her drink.

Petra was going to pretend nothing was wrong, try not to look suspicious while hurriedly finishing her drink, and then leave quickly while still looking innocent. 'Cause she was. She was there to drink and relax, and hadn't done _anything_ wrong, thank you very much!

Exhaling loudly while closing her eyes, she picked up her glass and took a huge gulp out of it. She was in the process of swallowing and putting her drink down, when she was interrupted by the very officer she _hadn't_ (had) wanted to come over. That led to her choking on her drink and also almost spilling it out of her glass.

Alarmed, the stern-faced officer was quick to grasp the glass and hold his hand over hers (she didn't blush, really she didn't), while concernedly grasping her shoulder as she tried to steady herself and stop coughing.

"I apologize," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to startle you."

She gave him a weak smile. "It's okay. I wasn't paying attention right then." No, she had been too busy trying to calm herself and look normal and not at all like a suspicious character that would draw unwanted attention of the law. Which she ended up doing anyway.

Fuck.

He held out his hand, making her blink. "I'm Garthan Saal."

He was…introducing himself?

"Er, I'm Petra," she introduced herself likewise, reluctantly grasping his hand. She could feel the calluses that said he was a hard worker, how large it was that it practically engulfed her slimmer hand, and she liked the way it felt so warm.

He gestured to the chair next to her. "May I sit here?"

"I guess?" she said unsurely, getting confused. Wasn't she supposed to be under investigation or something?

"So are you here with someone?" he asked.

Ah, there was the questions.

"Nope," she said firmly, smiling widely and trying not to let any nervousness show. "Definitely not. I just wanted to relax and have a drink here."

"I hope I'm not interrupting or bothering you in any way then?" he asked, straightening up and looking hesitant.

Wait, what? What was he saying?

"No, not really," she ended up saying, though she probably should've said yes or something. It probably would've made him go away, but she was now growing intrigued and even rather admittedly more attracted (and allowing herself to feel that attraction), especially now that she was getting the gist that she wasn't in trouble.

"That's good," his lips lifted a bit. "Can I share a drink with you then?"

And, though she didn't know it, saying yes to him probably changed her life from that moment on.

* * *

 

One drink turned into two drinks, which turned into three.

He wasn't a very outgoing person, even when the alcohol kept coming. He held his liquor well, and Petra admittedly had to stop herself because she had already reached the semi-drunk point and she wanted to still be coherent and remember this night.

Fuck it all, she didn't care he was a Nova Corp Officer. Yondu would probably yell at her and her recklessness, and mixing it up with the law like this, while Kraglin might probably be split between the same reaction and also cracking up and cheering her on for her idiotic boldness and carelessness…

But she didn't really care.

Garthan was a good talker and she found herself enjoying their talk. He wasn't her usual type she went for, but he was handsome as hell and had a wicked sense of sarcasm and witty retorts. Aside from that, he was mostly too freaking serious, but he so intensely focused on her and what she had to say and their time together, which was different from all the times she spent with men who didn't give a crap and focused on her body or just plain didn't give her the same intensity and focus Garthan was.

And she always did like a man with a fantastic build, and Garthan definitely was no slouch in that area. Closer up, she could easily see how his uniform clung to him, showing off muscles with every slight movement he made. He was, like she said, very handsome with his dark hair and cool blue-gray eyes, strong features and his chiseled jaw. Physically, _totally_ her type and she would've normally banged him in a second.

But she was also right in that he was stiffly mannered, though awkward at times. He was definitely a by the book person, and not someone she would typically go for _overall_.

She flirted with practically anyone, more so the more attractive she found them, but she usually slept with guys that were fun-going and not so serious-minded. She made exceptions of course, like she would for any hot guy that crossed her path, but she never thought she would make one for a Nova Corp Officer.

Not that Garthan even seemed like the type that would just agree to sleep with her. He seemed too proper and prudish.

Which wouldn't stop her from trying and making the overture anyway. So she leaned over with a sultry smile, getting too much into his space and flustering him a bit (good, so she did affect him), and then gently laid her hand on his arm.

"Do you want to go back to your place?" she asked slyly, her eyes hooding slightly.

She watched him swallow slowly, his breath speeding up a little, while his face grew uncertain and his pretty blue-gray eyes widened just an inch. She watched him lick his lips slowly in thought, before he glanced at her face and gave a sharp nod.

Though surprised, she was delighted and wasn't going to waste this opportunity. She slid off her seat and waited for him to do the same, and then he grasped hold of her hand, leading the way out of there.

He was quiet and his face was even more serious, but she could feel determination in his gait as he walked her to his personal transport ship, and though he stayed that way as he sat in the pilot seat and flew off to his home, she could feel the tenseness radiating off of him. Part of her wondered if he really wanted to do this, and the other part was just as determined to get into his pants.

Obviously, being semi-drunk as she was, it was clear which she was more focused on.

It wasn't long until they reached his place, and he carefully helped her out of his ship, making her mused that he was the gentleman sort. She didn't really run across them often.

Time somehow got away from her and soon she found herself in his apartment, facing him. He was once again unsure, but she wasn't going to let him dwell too much on that and end up backing out of this. She stepped into his space, bringing her hands up to fiddle with this collar and letting the tips of her fingers brush against his throat, before finally popping his collar open and then beginning to open the rest of his uniform jacket.

"I don't usually do this," he told her, endearingly nervous. It was rather sweet, more so as she watched him act hesitant and even almost bashful, losing the seriousness for a shyer, self-conscious layer.

"That's fine," she said with a quirk of her lips, boldly taking a step closer and brushing her lips against his throat, feeling him swallow nervously.

His hands grasped her waist and she hummed approvingly. Uniform jacket fully open, she let her hands trail all over his front, appreciative of the hard muscles she was feeling up.

"It's been a while since I've been with anyone," he murmured, and though that made her inwardly pause, she resigned herself to a probably fumbling, maybe unsatisfying night. After all, she was already happy enough that she'd bagged a gorgeous man with a practically perfect body, and who so far had treated her very differently than most of the men she'd been with.

More than that, he was a _Nova Corp Officer_ , and there was something a little exciting about having caught the interest of one in this way, more so because she was a criminal. And with the feeling she got, as well as his own admission, that this wasn't something he did and how she just knew he was the type to be too serious and too uptight to do this kind of thing and have any one night stand, that she succeeded in getting this particular lawman made her crow in wicked glee inside.

Plus, it would probably piss off Yondu if he ever found out about it.

She helped him out of his uniform jacket and pushed him onto his couch. Without prompting, she yanked her jacket off before she climbed onto his lap and then grabbed onto the hem of her shirt, smirking at him as she slowly pulled it off of her body, revealing her bare torso. Throwing it over her shoulder, she was pleased to find he was watching her with darkened eyes, which she rewarded with a kiss.

Oh, he was definitely a really good kisser at least.

His lips were firm against hers, smoothly sliding wonderfully against her, before his tongue was the first to reach out and swipe against her lips. She opened her mouth invitingly and sighed against him as his tongue dominantly explored her mouth, eventually touching against her tongue and lazily wrestling with it.

His warm hands slid up her back, caressing her skin and igniting a fire in her belly. Without warning, he'd picked her up and stood, while she automatically wrapped her legs around his waist and gasped in surprise. He carried her to a door, which opened up to a room with a bed at the center, to where she was gently laid onto.

"Is this alright?" he asked breathily, face flushed and eyes clear in want.

"Yes," she breathed out.

So, so, _so_ much yes.

He fumbled with his pants and took them off, while she did the same, eager to be free of her clothing and ready to get it on with him. She licked her lips when she saw him in just his underwear, a large tent making obvious his desire for her and showing off his size. Before he could take it off, she moved onto her knees and leaned forward, nuzzling his hardness through the cloth of his underwear before mouthing it.

A sharp inhale let her know he'd been caught off guard, but his heavy panting showed her how much he'd liked it. She only moved back a second to yank down his underwear, and then her mouth was back on him, this time on the uncovered cock that had sprung free for her to enjoy.

"I… _Petra_ ," he gasped out her name and she felt his hands brush against her head, as if he'd wanted to grab hold but stopped himself. It amused and made her a little fonder of him, given most guys would have just done so.

She let her tongue work his shaft while her mouth moved in a slow up and down rhythm, breathing through her nose as she teased him to the edge.

However, before she could finish him off, he pulled back and moved away. She blinked and looked at him questioningly, but instead he gently pushed her onto her back and clambered over her. His mouth went to one of her breasts, while the other was kneaded by one of his hands. She moaned, enjoying the way he sucked on her breast and then nibbled at her nipple, while his hand tugged and squeezed before going back to kneading her other breast.

Well, looks like she was wrong about having an unsatisfying night. Even if it's been awhile, he clearly still knew what to do and just how to do it right, if his ministrations on her were any indication.

He worked his way down from her breasts, laying open mouthed kisses that tickled her belly, before he reached her navel and let his tongue swirl in and around it. At the same time, he unbuttoned her pants and she raised her hips to help him slide them off of her, to which he then spread her legs and dove into her cunt.

The immediate and skillful use of his tongue on her had her arching upwards and panting harshly, writhing on the bed as his tongue delved in and out, around, licking and then moving to her clit. His mouth suckled her pussy relentlessly, before slowing to a torturous pace. His hands effortlessly kept her straining legs apart.

"G-Garthan!" she panted, his name easily and naturally slipping out of her mouth.

That had him finally pull away. He shuffled forward on his knees, keeping her legs apart as he settled between them. He looked to her and she nodded, still trying to catch her breath while holding onto the high he'd put her in.

Then, without rush, he began to push his length into her.

Her head fell back as her mouth opened and her eyes closed, enjoying the feel of his cock sliding into her. His rigid shaft was thick and slightly long, filling her up in all the best ways. Once he was fully seated into her, she expected that he would begin thrusting quickly and it'd be over soon, to her disappointment.

But then he did begin moving, and it was at a slow, gentle pace that had her confused. Her eyes opened to look at him, and her breath caught in her throat at the tender look on his face. One of his hands went to cup her face, cradling it as his other hand grasped onto one of hers.

This was different from her usual. She didn't have gentle, sweet sex. She had meaningless, feel good for the moment, mindless but passionate sex. She had rough, even if it was too rough, sex. She was usually fucked.

She was never made love to.

But it was the only way she could describe this, and there was something in her that found herself enjoying this so much more than any other time she'd slept with anyone else, which echoed in the way she slowly moved in sync with him.

And when she found it all just building up until she was just letting go and coming in a way she never had, she also had never done so while looking into a man's eyes the way she was doing now with Garthan.

His lips fell onto hers again and he kissed her deeply.

Started 5/24/17 – Completed 5/26/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really try not to start new fics, but when I get obsessed with a pairing…XD I finally got a pairing I love for GOTG (though I adore Peter/Gamora too), but geez –I just became obsessed with Peter/Saal. Late to the party, eh?
> 
> Anyway, doubt there'll be much readership and interest for this since poor Garthan's dead and it's been a while since the first GOTG movie, but eh, I love the pairing so what the hell. Full version should be on my Ao3 account~ I hope everyone liked this chapter and the idea of this story! Please remember to review!


	2. Haunted By You

She fell asleep. She actually fell asleep and stayed there for a bit.

Petra never did that.

But, as the light of early morning streamed into the apartment, she shifted to an upright position and stared down at the man she'd slept with last night. He had a peaceful expression on his face, but her lips moved into a small smile as she realized that even in sleep, Garthan Saal still seemed to look so very serious.

She shouldn't still be there. She should leave. She should –

Her hand went to move a strand of his hair back behind his ear, grazing against his cheek. For a second, her touch lingered there. Then she shook her head and slid off the bed, refusing to look back on him as she gathered up her clothes. After a brief thought, she decided she had time and could sneak in a shower and headed to his bathroom to get cleaned up. When she was done, she immediately headed for his door, only for her to hesitate and look back at him (even though she said she wouldn't).

"Ah, what the hell," she muttered to herself.

She found what she needed in his home and did one last thing before she left him behind without a word or a noise.

Petra, moving around outside and blearily staring up at Xandar's rising suns, made to stretch and yawn widely for a moment. She then made her way to her ship, flipping on her stereo and letting her music blast through the craft as she turned it on, closing her eyes after and cracking her neck slowly.

Without warning, she heard the sound of her ship being hailed and reluctantly answered it, inwardly grimacing at the sight of Yondu's angry expression. In the background, Kraglin waved sympathetically at her.

"Where've you been, girl?!" Yondu yelled, blue face turning amusingly into a weird shade of puce. "You don't get to just jump ship without a word and go traipsing off to wherever you want!"

Petra half-purposely yawned to piss him off (though it was also not on purpose, since she really was still tired). She gave him a bored look as she raised an eyebrow, giving him a smug smirk that probably annoyed him to no end.

"I got too antsy and bored on the ship," she shrugged. "What do you expect?"

"I _expect_ you to listen to me when I said ain't nobody boarding off the Eclector until I say so! Which means when I say _no_ , it's a no," he narrowed his eyes at her.

She sighed in aggravation. "It's not like I went off to some planet out of reach of the Eclector! I just went down to Xandar, where we've been skulking in the orbit for at least a week now. How can you not expect me to not go stir crazy?"

Yondu grunted. "You're lucky our dealer finally came through for us and we're wrapping up our job here. About time too! Them Nova boys are starting to take notice and it's making me jumpy."

A flash of warm hands and tender blue-gray eyes went through her mind and she swallowed slowly, mentally shaking away the images and the thoughts that lingered on the Nova Corp Officer she shouldn't still be thinking about.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. In my ship now and flying back," she told him, ignoring his pleased expression.

"Hurry it up. We gotta –" She cut him off, knowing he'd probably get right back into an angry furor for that, and instead focused on flying her baby out of Xandar's docks and into the atmosphere, and straight to where she knew the Eclector was still hovering in orbit.

One of these days, she was going to have to split off on her own and do her own thing.

* * *

When Garthan woke up, it was to a surprisingly cold and empty bed that housed only him. Disappointed that she was already gone, but knowing he actually shouldn't be so surprised, he got himself out of bed and went to clean himself up and start getting ready for work.

A part of him was still dazed at the fact that he'd brought her to his home. He had never done that before, especially not for something like this…something like bedding someone. More so for it to be a one night stand, though he knew he actually had wanted so much more than that.

In the cleanser, his mind circled back to the night before and he couldn't help replaying the events. After the first time, they had gone again and she'd pulled him closer to her, planting sweet kisses against his jaw and the side of his face as he continued to thrust into her. He felt like he'd been driven crazy and still did just by the memory of it.

Afterwards though…

They'd taken a breather, lying side by side as they tried to catch their breaths and ended up gazing into each other's eyes. His hand crept over to her, curving to hesitantly cup her waist and rest there, rising up and down with every breath she took.

" _How long have you been on Xandar?" he found himself asking. He wanted to know about her, find out all he could._

_She blinked slowly, gaze refocusing on him as she became more alert._

" _About a week or so, and probably leaving soon," she admitted, surprising him. He had thought she lived there. Had hoped actually, because he didn't want this to be the last he saw of her and that maybe that there could've been an opportunity for him to run into her again. But if she was leaving…_

" _How long have_ _ **you**_ _lived here?" she asked curiously and he gladly answered, wanting to think that she wanted to know him too at least._

" _I've lived here all my life," he said. "Several generations of my family have lived and died here. As of now, however, I'm the only one left, with distant relatives living on other planets."_

_She hmmed, watching him lethargically. "And Nova Corp? When did you decide to join up?"_

" _I believe my late teens, as soon as I was able to sign up," he recalled that time. "I'd always wanted to serve, so when the chance finally came…"_

_As they traded questions back and forth, Garthan could pretend at least that this was something just beginning, even though he knew that it wasn't supposed to last._

_But he also knew he'd be haunted by her and the memory of their time together._

Sighing, he exited his cleanser and finished up in his bathroom, before dressing in his uniform. Furrowing his eyebrows, he realized his rank tiles were missing and that they were nowhere to be found as he looked around. Deciding it probably got misplaced the night before, he would just put in for a replacement as soon as he got to Nova Headquarters. In the meantime, he should probably be heading out.

Before he left, he found a piece of paper by the table next to his door. Grabbing it, he held it carefully as he realized what it was – _who_ it was from.

_Garthan,_

_I was going to just leave, but I thought I should say goodbye. And…_

_Thank you for last night._

She didn't sign her name, but it obviously came from Petra and he didn't want to just leave this lying around and be forgotten. He neatly folded it up and placed it in his pocket.

* * *

The rest of the Ravagers didn't miss her presence none, so she didn't know what Yondu's problem was. Eh, whatever. She just swung around the pint of alcohol, which had been smuggled off of Xandar and was being passed around the crew in celebration of a job well done.

She cheered with the rest of them, taking long, hard swigs out of her pint and laughing it up. It was only when she felt a tug at the back of her coat that she settled and looked to see who it was, seeing Kraglin grinning at her.

"Hey, you!" She swung her legs around the bench she'd been sitting on before getting up and heartily grabbing him into a hug. "You should grab a pint before these jerkoffs drink it all up!"

Kraglin sniggered. "S'alright. Come on! Let's get out of here and you go tell me what'chu been up to planetside?"

"Alright, alright," she grabbed her pint to take with her, before snatching his arm and hauling him out of the mess hall. Down a corridor and to more quieter areas, she slowed down. "What do you want to know?" She grinned mischievously at him.

"Details! Come on, I know you had fun –you've got a glow on your face and you're in a really good mood. What were you up to?"

She held up her hands, one preoccupied with the pint of alcohol. "So, get this…I was just there to wind down and get off the ship, yeah? That was my plan."

"Something happened 'off-plan,'" he concluded, starting to grin with her.

"Yeah," she laughed. "I met this handsome as hell bastard! He came in with a group of Nova Corp officers and they were just going to drink, before he came over and started to chat me up!"

"He…he wasn't a Nova Corp Officer himself, was he?" Kraglin asked hesitantly, no longer grinning fully or gung ho with her, not that she noticed.

"Oh my God! That's the best part –he was one of the more serious ones, probably the most!" She shook her head, still grinning. "I mean, this guy is probably the epitome of a lawman, Kraglin, and _I_ –criminal me –got him interested! There's irony and so much awesome in that!" Not to mention how flattered and shocked she still was.

At this point, Kraglin totally made a face and Petra noticed this time.

"What's your problem?" Petra scowled.

"Petra, he's Nova Corp! Baby girl, I got your back on these kind of things, but you know that you do some stupid, reckless things sometimes," he told her, still making a face.

She huffed. "No, I don't. Name one."

Kraglin gave her a flat look. "That one time where you got so drunk you nearly married King J'son of Spartax –"

"Yeeah, no," she cut him off hurriedly, refusing to remember that time. "Just no."

"Especially since you thought he was your –"

"Okay, okay!" she yelled, holding up her hands. "So long as you never bring that shit up, Kraglin. Goddamn, I thought I told everyone that doesn't get brought up ever?"

Kraglin gave her a smug, knowing look, but she shrugged.

"This isn't the same," she insisted. "I was nowhere near drunk when he first came to me, and I liked the dude, alright? Stern, uptight bastard, but he was also easy on the eyes. And witty and funny. And his sarcasm kicks ass. And he was…sweet," she admitted.

"Sounds like you like him," he noted suspiciously.

"What, no," she was taken aback. But then she ran that through again and decided it was innocent enough. "I mean, yeah I guess. He wasn't a bad guy or anything. He's likable to me. I guess you can say that."

"I ain't meaning that," Kraglin said in exasperation. "I meant you really liked the guy!"

She gave him a blank look, still not understanding. He threw up his hands in more exasperation.

"Forget it! Let's get back to the others! I think I need that pint."

She snickered at him, swallowing down the last of her own drink.

"You got it! I need a refill."

And, well, that had been the least of Petra's worries then. After all, nearly two weeks later and she felt like she was dying.

"Probably just a stupid space flu," she muttered to herself as she flushed the toilet, having thrown up in it for the umpteenth time that night. Sometimes she threw up in the morning, sometimes during the 'day', or whatever constituted as day out in the black. But lately, she'd just plain been throwing up a lot.

"Fuck, I feel like shit," she grumbled, wetting her face and rinsing her mouth out. She left her bathroom and headed back into her room, flopping on her back onto her bunk. Her eyes caught sight of the rank tiles she'd stolen, having wanted a keepsake from that night and of Garthan.

She had also, once seeing it clearly in the confines of her room and after drinking it up with Kraglin and the others, cursed up a storm. She really had been reckless, as the rank tiles mockingly glittered at her then –Garthan Saal had been a Denarian. A high-ranked Nova Corp Officer, and she probably had been pretty lucky with him.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts and she yelled out a quick "Come in!" The door opened to show Kraglin with two trays filled with food. Her mouth immediately began salivating.

"Hey, I brought food," Kraglin told her, his tone worried. "You missed out on dinner. Yondu, though he didn't say outright and instead yelled about how you were probably wanting to be a prissy little princess and have food brought to you, made me come here with this." He held up a tray.

Petra felt guilty and gave him an apologetic smile. "Thanks, Kraglin. Sorry Yondu got all bossy on you." She accepted the tray and began eagerly chowing down. Kraglin gave her a funny look as he sat down next to her on the bunk.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked her.

"I think I have the flu," she replied grumpily. "I've been throwing up a lot lately."

"You've been eating a lot though," he commented, seemingly blithely.

"Yeah, I guess?" She hadn't really thought much about that…She suddenly narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that your way of calling me fat? You saying you noticed I've been gaining weight or something?"

His eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no! That ain't it at all!" But then he hesitated. "Actually…don't hit me! But I think you might have gained just a bit around your stomach."

She gave him a furious scowl, reaching over to pull at his ear. "Take that back!"

"OW! P-Petra, just hear me out!" he rubbed at his ear after she reluctantly let go. "Look, um, things just adding up and I think…youmightbepregnant."

She stared at him, trying to decipher what he said. "Dude, not cool. I didn't understand a word of that."

Kraglin took a deep breath. "I think you might be pregnant."

She stared at him again, this time feeling a sort of numbness overtake her. "…What?"

"Come on, Petra," he said, tone sort of becoming urgent. "You're eating a lot these days, like more so than normal. You're throwing up all the time. You complain sometimes of being sore out of nowhere, and then you've been sort of moody."

"What?" she said incredulously. "Since when?"

"Since you made Taserface cry when you ranted at him about how stupid his chosen nickname was, after he asked you to pass him seasoning packets three days ago."

She blinked. Oh.

"I don't even remember that," she admitted to him. "Heck, I hadn't even known I made the guy cry. Isn't Taserface always going on about being tough shit and all?"

"Apparently not when strawberry-blonde women are suddenly irritable and ripping a new one out of anyone daring to bother them," he looked at her pointedly.

She felt dread fill her as she realized the truth. "But that would mean…I'm…that I..I got pregnant," she finished in a dismal tone.

She hadn't been with anyone, not since Garthan. And she realized she hadn't exactly been careful that night. Neither had he, and now she was possibly pregnant because of that.

"We were pretty careless," she confessed. "I was just super into him and didn't want him getting scared off and changing his mind. He made it sound like that wasn't something he did often. I didn't make him wear a skin –I didn't even remember thinking of using one. We were both pretty gone at that point."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You know Yondu's gotta know."

She winced. "Does he really?"

Kraglin gave her a look and she threw up her hands.

"Ah, damn it!"

She wasn't looking forward to that talk at all.

Started 5/30/17 – Completed 5/31/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Squints at numbers and tilts head) Huh. I really didn't expect to get a response to this fic, much less…this kind. Wow. I don't know if it'll keep up (crosses fingers), but damn guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, so please continue to support the story and review! Reviews are my very lifeblood :D


	3. O  Sweet Child of Mine

"You're pregnant?" Yondu gaped at her.

She gave him the most deadpan look she could. "No shit, Sherlock. That's what I just said," and though she said it like that, inwardly she was still in shock and in denial.

"You can't be pregnant," he said stubbornly. "This ship ain't gonna survive having another crazy ass Terran brat running around."

"Shut up," she pouted. "I wasn't that bad. Besides, it'll only be half-Terran."

"Eh? What's the other half? A'askarvariian?"

Petra bared her teeth, a tick developing in at her temple. She took a deep breath, still annoyed, but forcing herself to not let Yondu get to her. Jerk enjoyed doing that.

"Xandarian," she muttered.

Yondu turned to Kraglin, who had been fine being forgotten and blending into the background. "She say Xandarian, right? So unless she's bumping uglies with her brother in all but blood," Yondu gave Kraglin a hard look, causing him to squirm.

"That means this happened not too long ago, back when we were in Xandar and this here Princess ran off to have a jaunt back on the planet on her own say so." He turned to her. "See? This what happens when you don't listen to me."

Petra swore she was going to reach over and throttle him!

"He a good-looking man at least," Kraglin brought up, as if that would make it better. Maybe it did, having pretty babies?...Eh, like Yondu would give a flip about that…

"You see him?" Yondu scowled at him.

Kraglin coughed. "Well, no."

"Then you ain't got a clue if he's good-looking! Maybe he is or isn't good-looking to me, huh?" He looked to Petra. "He good-looking?"

She inwardly rolled her eyes. "Yes, he is. Very much so," she added on as an afterthought, remembering his faint smiles and blue-gray eyes watching her.

"At least he's got a pretty face," Yondu griped. "Did you even check for sure if you are?"

"Not yet," Petra said. "Kraglin said I should tell you, so we came here first."

"Then go check if you are!" Yondu snapped at her. "Then we'll figure out what to do."

At that point, Petra was still holding onto the hope that this was a false alarm and that things had gotten out of hand. But, as the only (sort of) medic on board told her, she was as pregnant as Yondu was blue.

Which meant she had to face facts and stop denying it.

"Well…what do you wanna do?" Yondu asked her, strangely subdued. She was glad he wasn't preaching to her anymore though. She had enough of it, especially since she was already repeatedly berating herself.

She swallowed heavily, eying her prospects. It would be so much easier to just get rid of it. She didn't have to keep it. It wouldn't have to worry about having no dad around, like she did, like her mother did. The father –Garthan –didn't even know about it. He wouldn't ever have to know about it. She could carry this secret to her grave.

Her mother didn't have to keep her. Not even after Petra's deadbeat dad ran off to run around in space after knocking _her_ up.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened her eyes, she looked determinedly at Yondu. It was just the two of them now and she was grateful that, for once, Yondu was quiet and waiting patiently for her.

"I'm going to keep it. My momma didn't have to keep me, but she did. So I'm going to…do the same for this one."

It was the least she could do to keep on being like her mother, however she could.

* * *

It was a tough 9 months. News had spread through the crew, though it couldn't be helped since Petra grew more and more noticeable with her symptoms and her stomach bulging. She was kept behind more and more on the ship, aggravating her and driving her crazy being stuck on the Eclector, but she also wasn't dumb and realized she had to take care of herself and take care of the baby (even though she was effectively, practically _grounded_ ). At one point, they'd snuck her into a hospital and gotten a doctor to take a look at her, with Yondu holding him at gunpoint while she was getting an ultra-sound.

It was a boy.

From then on, the doctor had (under _persuasion_ ) prescribed her what was needed and Kraglin would pick up the medication and whatever else at whatever pharmacy they came across.

And then came the time when she actually gave birth.

Yondu had been all for letting her give birth on the ship, not wanting to endanger her or go to some hospital and risk her being identified and getting her (and them) arrested. Kraglin had argued for an actual hospital, saying it was safer and cleaner.

By the time Petra was in labor, she didn't give any fucks. Seriously. She was in so much pain that all she could think about was getting the baby out of her as soon as possible.

Yondu made the executive decision to have her deliver the baby there, and she wasn't going to argue because she was in too much pain and couldn't think straight enough to argue about it. Instead, she lay in the ship's infirmary, where she was in labor and where the doctor they'd kidnapped (who she felt sorry for, because he had to deal with Yondu so often and had to deal with their shit so much, and was probably sadly used to it by now) was making sure she was okay and trying to keep her from having complications.

"You should…get…paid more…for dealing…with our crap," Petra gasped out.

Dr. Trowan didn't even blink. "Hardly. If I was known to be helping you in any way, I would just be arrested for aiding and abetting."

Petra snorted and gave him a tired grin, even as another shot of pain wracked through her body.

"Hang up your white coat and don some Ravager red, Doc. You should just cut your losses already and officially join up!"

"Over my dead body."

She burst out laughing, though she stopped and gasped again, wanting to keel over.

"Almost there," he murmured.

"I wish this was over already!" Petra threw her head back, almost starting to bite her lip but stopping herself before she could end up accidentally biting down hard enough she'd draw blood.

"You're almost fully dilated," he said as he checked between her legs. "A little more and then you can start pushing."

She suffered another minute or so, before Dr. Trowan gave her the go ahead to start pushing. Once he did, she put all her energy and focus on that, so that the baby would get the hell out of her body already and she can finally pass out peacefully.

Unfortunately, even though she was now pushing, it was still taking her some time to push the baby out.

"What's going on in there?" Yondu hollered from outside the infirmary, and Petra could amusingly notice the hidden worry in his voice. "Ain't he out yet?!"

"You try giving birth!" Petra screamed at him.

"No thanks! Who the baby daddy?" He said quickly, trying to catch her off guard.

"I'm not telling you shit!"

She let out a litany of curses for a few seconds, before she screamed and pushed at the same time, ending up with her baby finally getting pushed out of her body and being neatly caught by the hands of her doctor.

"Oh thank God," Petra sighed and collapsed back onto the bed. "I think I'm just going to go to sleep now. Preferably for a long time and not interrupted or bothered until I'm finished."

"What's his name?" Dr. Trowan asked her gently, cleaning up the baby and making sure his vitals were okay.

She blinked blearily. She remembered some of her favorite shows she used to watch, and though Knight Rider had always been her favorite, she admitted to the soft spot she had for Star Trek and how both her and her mom had enjoyed it and watched it together.

"Tiberius," she muttered, remembering the cool name. "Tiberius Garthan Quill."

If she named him after his father, that was her business, wasn't it?

* * *

She hadn't held her baby. Not even once.

Since she'd given birth to him, Petra hadn't held her baby. Even Yondu and Kraglin had held her damn baby, but she couldn't even bring herself to do it. What kind of mother did that make her?

She wondered if her own mother had had these kinds of problems and thoughts. Did she have problems holding Petra? Did she have problems looking at her? Did she…did she feel empty and apathetic sometimes with Petra?

Sometimes, when she looked at Tiberius, she would just stare. There were even times when resentment and bitterness built up in her, because if it wasn't for the kid then she wouldn't be still stuck on the ship having to take care of him. She wouldn't have to worry so much about things, or how the baby had to be taken care of so carefully.

She wasn't a careful person. She was care _less_.

Petra was a reckless, wild, and untamable woman that used to give no fucks, ignored the loneliness that stuck to her, and just wanted to go out and have fun.

Tiberius changed everything for her. Garthan had changed everything for her.

Because now Petra was a mother and she couldn't be reckless, she couldn't be wild, and those two boys of hers had forced her to be tamed down.

"Damn you, Garthan Saal," she muttered as she tried to sleep, lying on her back on her bunk and resentfully glaring up at her ceiling.

Her whole life changed because of that man and she resented every bit of it.

Crying broke through her thoughts and she slowly turned on her side to stare dispassionately at the bolted down crib near her bunk, clenching her jaw. She waited, but no one was coming and she pursed her lips as she took her time to sit up. Debating with herself, she finally decided to deal with it and came towards the crib, staring down at the squirming, crying baby, who started to reach up as soon as he saw her.

Petra hesitated before shaking her head and reluctantly reaching down, grabbing the baby and adjusting her hold. She felt herself softening as soon as he settled in her arms, keenly pushing his head up against her and grabbing at whatever he could reach of her, sniffling but quieting down. And when she looked down at him, she felt herself grow a small smile.

"Damn it," she softly said. "You're a damn heartbreaker, just like your daddy, aren't you?"

And hell if she still, after all this time, couldn't stop thinking about Garthan.

She began to sway a bit, watching Tiberius coo up at her, fisting her shirt in his tiny hands.

"Mama who bore me, Mama who gave me…"

She sung the song quietly, remembering the musical that she had managed to catch a copy off of her favorite black market trader.

"No way to handle things who made me so bad…~"

She lifted her baby and gently kissed his head, swallowing down a thick lump that had been stuck in her throat.

"My mom's song with Dad had been _'Brandy, You're a Fine Girl'_. Her song with me had been _'O-o-h Child'_. I don't have a song with your dad, but let's find one for ourselves, okay?"

She didn't know if she was going to be a good mom or even an okay mom. She just knew that she was going to do her damn best, and hope to be just like how her mom had been for her.

Despite all the bitterness welling up in her for her situation, and despite all the resentment she had for how her life had been turned upside down…

She loved her baby. She really did love him and she would show it just like Meredith Quill did her best for Petra.

Started 6/1/17 – Completed 6/2/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, I can't help it –I wanted to spoil you guys XD You guys have been so great in reviewing and following and favoriting…(swoons happily) So here's another chapter already! Hope you guys loved it! Please remember to keep up the support and please review! You guys are so awesome!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Tiberius: Heck yeah, Star Trek! I love the name Tiberius and think it's so cool, so I had to name the kid Tiberius. Also, with the middle name Garthan, it had to be a boy, otherwise I was tempted to make the baby a girl and have overprotective daddy Garthan!
> 
> 2\. Yondu is a punk dad. Plain and simple XD
> 
> 3\. Mama Who Bore Me: Taken from by 'Spring Awakening', a play that happens after Petra is kidnapped, but yeah –there's a black market trader she goes to that supplies her with Earth stuff :D
> 
> 4\. More fem!Petra stories: I have a few more in mind (actually some of them I came up with even before this one). You guys interested? Or do you guys want to hear what they're about first?


	4. So Distant (I Can't Reach You)

Garthan shuffled the stack of papers in his hands into a neater pile, thumbing through the top to make sure the papers that were the most important were situated there. He made his way to Nova Prime's office, a quick nod to the secretary before he was easily let in and met the eyes of Irani Rael.

"Prime," he stood at attention.

"Denarian Saal, are those the papers?" she asked and when he nodded, she gave an approving look. "Hopefully with this, we can…"

Though he listened attentively, something was tugging at the Nova Force within him and it was making him antsy. He didn't know why, but he felt as if something was up in the air and that something was going to happen soon. He just as easily dismissed it though, because there was no logic to it and he should be worrying about Nova Corps' current, persistent problem with Ronan the Accuser. The treaty he helped formed with Nova Prime wasn't enough. They had to do something about that madman.

"If I may, Nova Prime, if we continue on this path, there may be a chance that Ronan may come to Xandar on his own," he spoke up.

"It is a very possible conclusion and one we might not be able to avoid, not with Ronan's determination," she agreed reluctantly. "But I will continue to hound the Kree Empire for their support in at least denouncing him."

He grunted quietly, skeptical of that and even surer that even if it were to happen, it wouldn't do anything in the long run.

"It is nothing to worry about now, at least," Irani hmmed. "We just need to continue to be diligent."

Unsatisfied but silent, he waited to be dismissed after he handed the papers over, and then he was making his way to the floor containing his office, only to find Rhomann Dey, colleague and friend, waiting for him in his office.

"And what can I do for _you_?" he asked, heavy sarcasm coating his voice.

"Aw, come on, Garthan," Rhomann grinned widely. "What's with that greeting? And who says I want anything?"

"Remember we're at headquarters, Millennian Dey. You should be addressing me appropriately," he reprimanded his friend sternly. "And it's obvious by the look on your face."

Rhomann snorted and rolled his eyes. "No one's around, Garthan. And we're in your office! Don't be so strict. That's why people call you Garthan 'Orders are Orders' Saal."

"Orders should be obeyed," he said absentmindedly, logging onto his computer to start on some work as he sat down in front of it.

"Right, right. So…maybe I did come here for something."

Garthan briefly, unnoticeably smirked. "What is it?"

"Come patrol with me," Rhomann said. "I need to break in the new recruits and I don't want to deal with them alone. I'll be bored and plus, you're intimidating and the type to scare them into listening and doing what they're supposed to."

He frowned, thinking about it. He sighed and stood up from his desk. "Alright, I'll go with you. "

He patted down his pocket, feeling the crinkling of the familiar folded paper. He left his office, thinking about her like he usually did.

* * *

Garthan remembered it almost like it was yesterday. The memory of Petra was branded into his mind and he would recall the taste of her on his tongue, the sounds that left her lips, the playful grins and the way her eyes enticed him.

When he entered that bar with his colleagues last year, he had been pushed to by Rhomann, who'd told him that a group of Nova Corps officers were returning from off-world and he'd then asked Garthan to take them to a bar to relax, since he'd been asked to do it and couldn't as he was attending a birthday party. As a favor to Rhomann, he'd complied and agreed to bring the group to the nearest bar to headquarters.

He hadn't counted on the pretty brunette capturing his attention.

Petra had caught the others' attention too, and it hadn't been long until the group had started talking about her, more so when they noticed her staring at them. He had found himself for the first time actually contributing to the talk and commenting quietly with the others about her, but it was also the first time that he had ever really noticed someone like this and for once he found himself speaking about them.

When talk turned to one of them approaching her, he felt an irrational fear of one of them doing it and gaining her interest, leaving him to flounder silently. In that moment, his mouth volunteered him to be the one to talk to her, and then he ended up approaching her.

He'd worried he'd be bothering her. He'd worried on what to say. He'd worried about a lot of things, but in the end he hadn't had to.

Talk became fluid between them once the hesitant introduction went through, and though Garthan was probably too much of his stern self, he'd enjoyed her banter, the way she'd teased him, her silly quips and grinning comments. In the end, it was both a surprise and not one that he'd decided to bring her back to his apartment after her sultry inquiry.

After how much he enjoyed her company and had been so drawn to her from the first time he saw her, he couldn't part with her just yet and found himself wanting her and deciding to bring her to his home. At the same time, he knew it wasn't like him and he had never really done that before –with anyone.

But Petra was something else and for once he had liked someone so much that he wanted to do this, wanted _this_.

Truthfully, it amazed him that she had even been interested back in him at all.

A commotion to his right disrupted his thoughts and he noticed, along with some of his fellow officers he was on patrol with, that there seemed to be trouble afoot. Deciding against using the Nova Force to activate his flight abilities, he did tap into it to bolster his already quick speed as he ran towards the commotion. Readying his photon blaster, he also snatched up an energy net receptacle. Signaling the others, they split up and circled around the small group that was chasing each other and fighting back and forth as they kept going in a random direction. Nearing the closest one, he threw out the energy net receptacle, releasing the energy net to cover his prey.

Aiming with his blaster, he kept it locked onto the woman that he'd caught, who graced him with a storm of curse words that he inwardly raised an eyebrow at. Cautiously walking closer, he kept his hands steady on his blaster.

"You're under arrest," he said authoritatively, moving around her so that he could face her directly.

He almost dropped his blaster when he finally got a good look at her. She blinked back at him before giving a rather vicious grin full of teeth.

"Fancy seeing you here, Officer."

Somehow he found himself floundering around, just like the first time he met Petra.

* * *

" _If it isn't Star Princess!"_

Hearing Rhomann greeting Petra in exasperated amusement was like white noise in his ears, though he had confused and frowning thoughts of how his friend knew her and what was with the name, until he vaguely tuned into their conversation and felt himself continue to grow numb as he realized she was a criminal who even had an "outlaw name" (albeit apparently a petty and not very good criminal it seemed, and with a rather _silly_ outlaw name).

He felt like he was in a dream and he had no idea when it would end, where he'd wake up with the thought that it had been more like a nightmare.

Even worse, there seemed to be a coldness to her that he didn't remember before. The more he watched her, the more he could see that there was a tightness to her grins, a tiredness in her eyes that hadn't been there. And when it came to him, she treated him with an icy shoulder that was all the more obvious as he saw how she ignored him or talked coldly to him, compared to her playful banter with Rhomann and her laughing jaunts and teases with some of the other officers as they headed to headquarters.

Why was she treating him like this? What had he done to her to deserve this treatment?

A part of him grew angry –he was the one who should be upset. He'd been the one deceived, who hadn't known what she'd really been. A criminal who probably thought it was hilarious to get one up on someone like him, who proudly upheld the law. Why was _he_ being the one treated distantly?!

Why…why was she so distant with him?

Even though he didn't want to, the thought of that made something in him ache and feel despair. They'd gotten so, so close back then, and he thought (despite her quiet and unknowing exit from his apartment and life) that they'd had a good time together. Even right now, just inches away from each other and close again, she was as distant to him as Xandar's three suns.

He wanted so badly to talk to her, but it seemed she wanted nothing to do with him.

They made it to headquarters where the other groups that were handling the others that had been arrested grouped up with them, and then all four of the perpetrators were being processed and getting their mugshots. Soon he had to make a decision on what to do with them. Kyln briefly crossed his mind, but he hesitated as he caught sight of a bored Petra.

She looked right at him through the one-way screen, as if she could tell he was looking at her.

"Hey!" she called out, startling him, Rhomann, and some of the other officers there with them. "What exactly am I here for? 'Cause you know, all my other stuff on my rap sheet's been settled, you know?"

Garthan and Rhomann looked at each other, before Rhomann replied to her.

"You at least are in trouble for causing a public disturbance. Plus, you're part of the infamous criminal gang of Ravagers."

She held up a finger, looking even more bored than before (if that was possible). "One, no longer part of the gang, Rhomann. Two, the public disturbance's not my fault –the raccoon and his Giving Tree were chasing me down for some reason, so it's not like I can just stand still and let them catch me and cart me off, yeah? And then badass green chick stole something from me, so it's not like I could just let her go. Ergo, am I really at fault or wasn't I just reacting normally to the situation?"

"It's Millennian Dey, Quill," Rhomann said, but even as he said it, he made a face before looking to Garthan.

Garthan bit his lip, but she was right. If she wasn't really with the Ravagers anymore and had left them, they couldn't exactly fault her for being with them and arrest her for that if she actually wasn't with them anymore. And as for the earlier situation, she was right that she couldn't exactly just allow herself to be caught by some bounty hunters and go off to somewhere she didn't want to, nor could she let a thief get away with stealing from her if she could catch and retrieve the stolen item before it could be totally gone.

"Denarian Saal, she's right," Rhomann said with a wince. "We can't exactly hold her here if we can't charge her with anything."

Garthan barely refrained from grimacing, but he reluctantly nodded. He sighed in aggravation.

"Have the others transported to Kyln," he ordered. At Rhomann's surprised look, he shrugged. "There are no rooms left at our local prisons. It'll do for now. As for Pet –" he caught himself, though Rhomann had noticed his slip. "Have Petra Quill released with a strong warning."

Rhomann nodded and set about his task, though he did glance back at Garthan, which he ignored.

While this incident was being let go, Garthan wasn't just about to let _her_ go or let go of what had happened between them. He was determined to get answers or at least have her answer to him.

* * *

When Petra was let off, he couldn't help but follow through with his foolhardy plan, following her as she left Nova Headquarters and traveled through the streets of Xandar and to the loading docks. There, he saw her move towards a particular ship that he hurried to board before she could close the ramp completely. He didn't reveal himself, even when he had boarded the ship and she was wearily moving around until she was moving towards the cockpit.

Then he heard the sound of a baby crying and he froze up.

"Hold on, Tiberius. Mommy will be right there! Let me just get us into space and get the hell outta here, okay sweetie?" he heard Petra yell out.

He swallowed heavily before he followed the sound of the baby crying and found himself in a room with a secured baby crib near a large bunk, and a baby wiggling around in the crib while crying his eyes out. Dazedly heading towards the baby, he peered over the railing and straight at the baby, before freezing up again.

Before he could stop himself, he bent over and picked up the baby, cradling him carefully in his arms. He found himself heading out of the room and back towards where he knew Petra was, where he'd originally planned to confront her.

Garthan glanced back down at the baby in his arms, seeing the mirror of familiar blue-gray eyes staring back up at him as the baby quieted, and then he stepped into the cockpit.

Just as they entered space and Petra took a large exhale, her shoulders slumping tiredly, he stood there with an almost timid air surrounding him and staring at her tense back. He licked his lips and gave one more look to the baby and then opened his mouth.

"He's mine, isn't he."

He said it as fact, not a question, and when Petra whirled around in shock and fear, he found that he already had his answer. He didn't even question whether it could've been anyone else's, with the baby's eyes being a dead ringer for his, and there was already a strong resemblance to him that he couldn't deny.

"W-what are you doing here?" Petra asked, her voice growing high-pitched.

But he stayed quiet and strange calm and acceptance was already coming over him.

She sighed in resignation and nodded to herself, before she looked to him with weary eyes.

"Garthan, meet my…your… _our_ son. Tiberius Garthan Quill."

They should be even closer with this, but for some reason Garthan felt as if she was even more distant and away from his reach.

Started 5/27/17 – Completed 5/29/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, reunion! I admit I'm having so much freaking fun with this story and am freaking happy as hell that everyone seems to want to be on this ride with me. From here on out, it'll be almost totally AU, so mwahahaha! Please remember to review and let me live off of them!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Fem!Petra stories: Summaries pasted down below. Comment on which one you'd like to see me start after this (or once this has had a lot of chapters up)!
> 
> 2\. I'm probably going to go way off base from the movie from now on XD
> 
> 3\. The Ravagers are SO not gone! Hurr hurr. They'll be back.
> 
> 4\. Nova Force: Not too sure about it or how to be about it, but I'll try my best. Mostly going off from other fics and what I've read up on wiki.
> 
> Fem!Petra stories:
> 
> What a Dangerous Woman:
> 
> They were just a bunch of "a-holes." Then they were the Guardians of the Galaxy. And her? She'd always been Petra Jane Quill, and there'd always been something about her that drew him in.
> 
> Drabble Petra/Saal series (mostly canon events).
> 
> Burn the Land, Boil the Sea:
> 
> Petra was a wild woman. She was a free spirit and the galaxy was her sea. She just didn't think an assassin, a raccoon, and a tree would be the ones to tie her down. Nor did she think a lawman could tame a criminal like her. Shows her, huh?
> 
> Fem!Peter AU of movies (totally non-canon).
> 
> Goddess of Themiscyra:
> 
> Yondu didn't take Petra. Instead, Ego came for her and she grew up on his planet practically alone. And then a Nova Corp Officer crash lands on her planet. She could dig the Wonder Woman vibe, right?
> 
> Patterned after Wonder Woman with fem!Peter having been taken by Ego and raised on his planet.
> 
> Let the Cage Bird Sing:
> 
> When Ronan the Accuser runs across a certain group of Ravagers, he finds an angel with a beautiful voice and captures her. Petra didn't want to be captured. Her only hope is a surly, captured Xandarian soldier.
> 
> Vignette-styled; Petra imprisoned by Ronan, saves Garthan. They meet again when she's arrested.
> 
> It's a Questionable Match!:
> 
> In a world with soulmates, they didn't expect to be matched. They're as opposite as you can get! Well too bad, because Petra Quill and Garthan Saal were apparently meant to be.
> 
> "Etched words": "Sorry, I didn't know how this machine worked!" "What a bunch of a-holes."
> 
> The Nova Academy Do's and Don't's:
> 
> A teenage Garthan saves Petra from the Ravagers, and years later she enters the Nova Academy. Garthan just wonders what happened to the sweet, mild-mannered kid he met, for her to become this wild temptress. Luck ain't on his side, that's for sure, when she becomes his student and subordinate.
> 
> Nova Cowboys and Space Goddesses:
> 
> Just after the whole orb thing on Knowhere, Xandar gets destroyed by Thanos for Ronan. The remnants of Nova Corps are picked up by Ravagers. It's a case of the law becoming criminal, and Nova Corps boys learning to be outlaws. Good thing Petra wouldn't mind teaching good boys how to be bad!
> 
> My mind is a strange place, I know XD


	5. You Were a Wrecking Ball

There was a strangled silence between them and Garthan's arms felt heavy with the weight of the baby, a reminder of what had happened between them and the consequences.

Petra walked over to him and took the baby –Tiberius _Garthan_ Quill –from him and started walking and he had the urge to snatch both the baby and her back into his arms and never let go.

Then he remembered Tiberius' name and with the breath stolen from him, he realized she'd –despite the obvious hostile feelings towards him (probably because of this) –had nonetheless named the baby after him. A flicker of…hope seemed to appear in him, and he already began to feel determination firmly settle in him.

Whatever happened from this point on, he was going to settle things and he wasn't going to let her just leave like last time.

He followed on her heels quickly and ended in the common area, where she sat at a couch and held herself defensively while holding onto Tiberius. He took a deep breath and sat across her on the other couch.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked blankly, but he wasn't going to let her get to him.

"I wanted to make sure you weren't up to anything," he said honestly. He paused before he decided to continue. "And after what happened with us last time, I wanted…I wanted answers."

She gave him a sardonic grin. "What? Because you found out I was some criminal and wanted to know if I had been trying to dupe you or something?"

"Or one up someone like me, because I uphold the law," he said hotly, unable to help it.

She snorted. "Please. Just because I have the 'profession' I have, doesn't mean that I didn't actually find you highly attractive. And it wasn't exactly wanting to one up a lawman, _Denarian_ Saal," So she knew who he was, "But I did find it exciting and ironic that someone like you was interested in a criminal like me. I was…flattered. Surprised but flattered. And my ego might've gotten a huge boost from that," she admitted, turning a bit sheepish and softening slightly.

It made him soften too. " _You_ were attractive to me," he returned. "Having not known you were a criminal, I thought you were…perfect."

She was starting to close up again, as her expression showed. "So knowing I'm a criminal now, that changes things?"

He got up and walked around the small table between them, kneeling next to her.

"It changes nothing," he said firmly, catching her off guard. He glanced at the baby. "Especially now that I have a son with you."

She stared at him, pressing her lips into a hard line. "I'm going to turn this ship around and head straight back to Xandar, and drop you off."

"We're already off planet and leaving Xandar's orbit," he lifted his chin defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You're kidding, right?" she scoffed. "Dude, seriously. I'm not dumb. You're Nova Corps. You can't just go traipsing off without leave."

"I have permission," he lied, keeping nothing revealing on his face.

She looked at him incredulously. "What? How did –Look, I can't have you following me around! What's the point? How long do you really think you can just force yourself onto this ship? _My_ ship."

"Indefinitely," he said wryly, refusing to bow down.

Honestly, while unlike himself, at this moment he was flying by the seat of his pants and just making up things as he went, not willing to just go back to Xandar and pretend nothing had changed and he didn't have a son. He couldn't just go back now, even though he now found himself at a lost and trying to regain his footing.

"I have a son," he said aloud, making things really real for him. "I can't, I won't just let him grow up believing I didn't care, that I couldn't even bother to be around. That I didn't _want_ to be around."

For some reason, what he said seemed to make Petra lose all her edge and she softened completely, looking at him with reluctant fondness.

"You don't have to force yourself to be a father," she said quietly. "You don't have to be obligated to be around, to have anything to do with him. With us."

"I'm not going anywhere," he reiterated.

She seemed to give up then and shrugged slightly, though not enough to jostle their baby. "Whatever. You can stay on board, but I've still got business to take care of."

That made him uneasy and again bring to mind that she was, apparently, a criminal.

"What…kind of business?" he asked, not sure he wanted to know.

She smirked at him. "The kind that's none of your business, Officer."

He made an aggravated sound, wanting to do or say something to change her mind, maybe convince her to… _not_ be a criminal. She'd still have a criminal past and technically would still be considered a criminal…but she was also the mother of his child and the idea of putting her in jail made him shudder, more so when he realized that _he_ would be putting her away and taking her away from their child while he was at it.

"Relax, Denarian Saal, I'm not doing anything illegal," she rolled her eyes as she got up, adjusting her hold on Tiberius. "It's mercenary work, so maybe you still might not like it, but I retrieved an item from Morag –mind you it's not stolen; it don't belong to anyone –and I intend to sell it."

He furrowed his eyebrows, getting up as well and following her back to the room where she placed a drowsy Tiberius back into the crib. The baby yawned and squirmed a bit, before settling down and sticking his fist into his mouth to suckle on. He watched as she looked onto Tiberius with such a tender expression, that he felt himself want to reach over to touch her. But the moment was gone as she straightened up and pushed passed him to move to the cockpit, where she began inputting coordinates.

"Did you have a buyer in mind then?" he asked, seeing that she had known where to go.

" _Had_ a buyer," she said absentmindedly. "It's why I was on Xandar. I was selling my piece to someone there, but he backed out for some stupid reason. He'd just pushed me out of his place when that green ninja chick ambushed me outside his place and tried to steal the merch. As you saw, I wasn't just going to let her go with my ticket to a crap load of money. I just didn't expect how good a fighter she was or those two bounty hunters on my ass. Actually, I should've expected the bounty hunters, considering I should've known Yondu is pissed at my ass and probably set up that stupid bounty."

Garthan grimaced, remembering that chase and getting somewhat of a clearer picture going on.

"What are you trying to sell that would have Gamora, of all people, try to steal it from you?" he asked wonderingly.

"Who's Gamora?" Petra asked, genuinely curious.

He almost gaped at her. He studied her intently and realized that, yes, she really didn't have a clue.

"Gamora is one of Thanos' daughters, and his best assassin," he slowly said, still amazed at her lack of knowledge. "She is the 'green ninja chick' that stole from you," though he had no idea what a ninja or chick was.

Petra blinked. "Huh. Is that so? Well, why was she after me anyway? I don't got anything to do with her or Thanos."

"That's what I asked," Garthan reminded her. He thought quickly. "What exactly did you steal?"

She hesitated, but then removed something from her pocket and held it up for him to see. She kept it close to her though, and he was sure that she was ready to snatch it away from him if he looked to try to take it from her.

"This stupid orb thing," she said in confusion. "Don't really know what it is or do. I just know that Yondu was hired to snatch it from Morag, and I decided to ditch the Ravagers and take it myself, and rake in the cash."

He frowned at her. "Is the money really all that important?"

She eyed him. "Takes cash to take care of a baby."

He flinched and nodded. She moved around him and went back to the common area, heading towards the small open kitchen that was attached to the area, and began rummaging through the cabinets. She set out a tin can and then a bottle, and he realized she was making milk formula. He leaned slightly, making sure to pay attention and remember every detail.

"He's just starting in on formula," she said nonchalantly. "When he wakes up, he'll probably be hungry."

"Do you want me to feed him?" he asked immediately and she gave him an awkward look.

"Do you want to feed him?"

"Yes," he didn't hesitate in answering. But then he backtracked. "May I?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I guess…"

Deciding to change the subject, he thought back to what she told him and though she said something of it, he still wondered what exactly was the orb and what did it contain (if anything)? He asked her and got a shrug for an answer.

"Haven't a clue," she confessed. "I just know that the guy that I was supposed to deal with backed out because some jerk face named Ronan was after the orb too, and for some reason this Ronan guy freaked my dealer out."

Garthan's jaw really did drop slightly at that, and he stared at her for a long moment, causing her to start fidgeting.

"Hey, what's up, man?" she asked in alarm. "What's with that reaction?"

He can't believe she didn't know any of that, or even at least who Ronan the Accuser was! "Ronan, who you seem to be talking about, is _the_ Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire. He's a fanatical that's recently gone renegade from the Kree Empire, declaring war on Xandar and slaughtering countless people. This…this is the Ronan your buyer was deathly afraid of, and who is after you and the orb!"

That made him almost start in on a panic and wondering if Ronan himself was going to just suddenly pop up near them at any moment.

"It is now no wonder Gamora was sent to retrieve it from you. However it implies that Ronan has now allied himself with Thanos, which bodes ill will for the entire galaxy," the very idea made him ill and worried about the situation, and trying to figure out what was going on.

"Oh," she mumbled, clearly embarrassed by the look on her face. "I…Yeah, I should probably get rid of this thing as soon as possible then."

"It might not matter if Ronan knows you have it right now and is coming after you," Garthan reluctantly said. "Perhaps we should go back to Xandar after all, and hand it over to Nova Prime, so that Nova Corps can protect it."

"No," she said quickly, immediately reaching for the orb in her pocket and holding it in there, watching him warily. She took a few steps back, which made him hold up his hands quickly.

"It was just a suggestion," though he really preferred that course of action, if only because he was the most assured of its success and safety for her and the baby.

However, he also understood he was on shaky ground with her and that this wasn't his place, no matter how all his instincts and his brain and heart were screaming at him to take control of this ship and head back to Xandar. He had to be careful with this. He was the one who had suddenly barged back into her ship and her life, and had forced his way into staying there. He wasn't at liberty to really be making any decisions or arguments. Just because he was Tiberius' father didn't mean he could suddenly just have a say so, after being gone from the beginning of his life and hadn't been there for the pregnancy and birth, and so didn't have any say so when it came to her either. This was something he had to work towards and prove himself to her.

He had to show her that, which meant respecting her and her decisions and boundaries.

That didn't mean that, while he was working on proving himself, that he wouldn't be determinedly and repeatedly trying to convince her of going back to Xandar and trying to keep them safe and protect them, especially under his and the rest of Nova Corps' protection.

Though he had a feeling she'd probably scoff at him and call him deluded.

"Just sit tight," she muttered, handing him the baby bottle. "Feed Tiberius when he wakes up."

"I will," he said and she went to move passed him. But before she could, he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"I've spent the past year being under your spell," he told her urgently. "I wasn't the one who walked away."

She looked at him in consideration, expression closed off again. She slowly reached up and grabbed his hand, taking it and removing it from her.

Garthan had already known going into this that somehow in the very same year he spent yearning and remembering her, that she had been building higher and thicker walls surrounding herself and her heart. And though he had a strong feeling it was because of him and him getting her pregnant, he also knew that she'd been struggling far, far too much on her own and with herself.

But even though he'd apparently wrecked her life and came crashing into it the moment he met her, she had also come tearing into _his_ life, breaking down all of _his_ walls, and making him the wreck he was inside for the past year.

"I'm not here to start a war with you, Petra," he told her sincerely. "I just want to get you to let me in, just like you had that night."

He stepped away, letting her have her space. He nodded to her and then moved away, heading to where Tiberius was.

Garthan did his best to refrain from blurting out his thoughts on how he wondered if whether she had also felt anything for him that night, or even had felt anything at all.

Started 6/3/17 – Completed 6/4/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, updating again because you guys are awesome and I need to update something else this week, but I have nothing else for other stories to update XD It's going to be a rough road for Saal, eh people? Hope you guys liked this chapter! Please remember to review~
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Fem!Petra stories: Haha, yeah, don't worry –I'm doing them all. Looks like GoT is top choice though. Some of them may come first because they're just going to be a two-shot or so, so expect maybe on e or two of the other stories to come up first, while GoT will be worked on next after this (as the next main fem!Petra story).


	6. What My Momma and Daddy Told Me

The soft smile wouldn't go away from his face. He was holding his son, his son who was looking up at him with wide blue-gray eyes that was just like his and was so trusting. Did he recognize Garthan, just instinctively know that he was his father? Did his son know who he was?

"Looks like he's almost done with his bottle," Petra said from his side and he startled, turning to face her as she stood in the doorway. She was observing him thoughtfully. "You should burp him after he's done and then if he still wants to be held, bring him with you. Dinner's ready."

Garthan nodded sharply, watching her closely and trying to decipher what she was feeling. It was hard as she wasn't giving any cues.

She turned and left and he followed after, trying to figure out what she meant by burping Tiberius, who was almost done with his bottle. Eventually, not able to figure it out, he asked her and she paused at the opening to the common area, giving him a strange look.

"You really don't know what I'm talking about?" she asked unsurely.

Embarrassed but trying not to show it, he nodded and looked to her. She reached out for the baby, holding out her hands patiently, but he couldn't help holding Tiberius closer. He just got him and didn't want to let go. She caught his instinctive reaction and gave him an amused look, so he reluctantly handed Tiberius over. He watched her as she gently placed the baby onto her shoulder and began softly patting his back.

"Sometimes babies end up throwing up a little, so it's a good idea to have a towel on your shoulder when you're burping him in case of an accident," she informed him. "You burp him so he doesn't have stomach problems or end up with gas."

"Did you already know all of these things?" he asked wonderingly.

"Only a bit," and he inwardly paused at hearing the tiredness in her voice. "I still had to learn a lot, but there's not much choice, is there? Not if I wanted to keep Tiberius and take care of him properly."

He imagined it in his head, seeing all the days and nights Petra had to endure on her own and take care of Tiberius, and he felt guilt at not being there, even though he hadn't known about their son or else he would have been right there by their side too.

"Mind you, it wasn't all bad –every once and a while I had some…kind of help," she winced. "Or what constituted as help. None of 'em are a bit capable of raising a kid, but they at least try to do something. 'Course they know nothing about raising a kid –look at me as an example, I'm awesome, but even I know I'm screwed up –but that's living with Ravagers for you. I grew up with them threatening to eat me."

Garthan couldn't help looking at her horrified, which she noticed and laughed.

"Yeah, they never did, and Yondu loves to claim that he was the one who protected me and kept them from eating me, but I call bull on that. I made myself useful too, learned to steal nice and proper for them, since I was small and could go places big guys like them couldn't get into or reach into. And as much as I resented getting kidnapped when I was just a kid," that made Garthan even more horrified and upset on her behalf, "I'm grateful at least they taught me to survive. I had a rough childhood and was treated and raised mostly like a boy, given that the ship was full of men, but I'd grown up enough on Terra to already have a sense of self and know how to be girly on my own. But they did become some sort of family in the end –dysfunctional as hell, but family."

He felt conflicted about her having grown up with Ravagers. On one hand, he was very much disturbed and upset at how she was treated with them, threatened to be eaten and raised like a boy, and having to learn to steal to be seen as useful. But he was also grateful for them having taught her to survive, as a child on her own in the galaxy was a dangerous thing and an unsafe place for her to live without someone looking after her or trying to do something to help and guide her. Maybe it had been rough at first, but she had eventually become one of them and part of the clan and family.

That was something he had to think about and probably even accept if he was going to be staying by her and Tiberius' side.

She headed over to the kitchen and grabbed a plate full of food, heading to the table and setting it down. She gestured at it to him and he realized it was for him. Sitting down, he began to eat while she poured him a drink of something. After being handed it, he was glad it was just water.

"Still, I'm not stupid," she moved the baby back to carry him in her arms. "They still don't know crud on what to do with a kid, and I know being there wasn't going to be the ideal place to raise Tiberius. I…I up and left with only a few words to Kraglin, who's like my best friend and older brother in one, and I decided I was going to raise my kid away from them and try to get him something as close to normal as I could. I was doing little jobs here and there, between leaving the Ravagers and then hearing about that job Yondu was supposed to take. I stole that job from Yondu because I heard about the money –it was a lot and I thought maybe I could buy a nice home somewhere, water front view, sunny skies all the time…somethin' real nice, you know? Then it'd be just Tiberius and me and a nice home, and the picket white dream life my mom always wanted and pictured for us…"

He swallowed heavily at that, knowing that she'd told him something really special. He could understand even better than before why the money mattered to her, and why she'd really wanted to sell that orb.

Garthan reached over to place his hand over one of hers, while she held their baby. "I don't have that nice water front home, but I do have an okay apartment. It's open to you."

She stared at him in surprise before, to his appreciation, a lovely blush rose up and covered her cheeks. She was as beautiful as he remembered her.

"But," he continued, smiling a little. "I suppose selling that orb and cashing in might help towards a nicer home with that water front, huh? I hope there's room in it for me."

She gave a choked laugh, and he could see she was holding back tears. "Only if you're going to be helping me sell that orb."

"Of course," he murmured. "But you know I'm more concerned of making sure that Ronan _knows_ you got rid of it, so he's not after you anymore." Because he didn't doubt the Accuser had found out about Petra having it and is probably searching for her now.

If he'd sent her to Kyln, what would have happened to her (and the baby he hadn't known she had)?

It made him glad that he hadn't been able to send her off to any prison.

"Where are we heading?" he asked, now that he thought of it. He'd seen her input those coordinates, but he didn't know where she was heading.

"Conjuction," she said. "It's a hub for the black market, as you should know." She eyed him meaningfully, but he kept his face blank. "That means, as much as I like you in uniform," she looked him up and down obviously, causing him to involuntarily flush red and her to smirk, "You have to ditch the outfit. I've got spare men clothing somewhere around here."

Part of him wanted to know why she would have spare _men's_ clothes around, but most of him wanted to keep being oblivious.

"Any particular reason why we're going there?" he ended up asking instead, keeping his voice neutral.

"Might be a chance I could sell the orb there," she hmmed. "And if not, I can pick up some supplies." She smiled widely suddenly. "Also, they sell the cutest and comfiest baby clothes there."

He looked at her skeptically. "Really?" he asked in a dry tone.

She huffed. "Really! Just you wait. You'll see."

He found himself smiling and nodding. "Okay. Prove me wrong."

"I will," she answered challengingly.

By the Worldmind, he'd really missed this woman.

* * *

Petra did not expect to run into Garthan Saal again.

And now, not only had she run into him again, but he was determinedly sticking by her side. Honestly, that made her both confused and curious, but mostly aggravated and sad. Aggravated because he was a lawman and she didn't always stick straight to the law, and also because he was forcing his presence there…but sad because her father hadn't stuck to Petra's mother's side the way Garthan was resolutely doing for her and Tiberius now. It was nice seeing Garthan willing to do so, willing to be someone and be a father, the way her own father wasn't seemingly willing…Just _sad_ because she couldn't help compare the situations, and that she didn't have someone like Garthan there for her and her mother.

Despite the lingering resentment that he'd inadvertently forced her to change her life around, she was still able to admire and be grateful that he was the way he was, and that he was such an honorable man after all.

"You're a good man, Denarian Saal," she said as they began standing at the ramp that was opening for them so they could exit the Milano.

He looked at her quizzically. "Thanks. May I ask why you would suddenly say so?"

"You can," she grinned and he rolled his eyes.

"Why do you say so?" he ended up asking plainly.

"Because you are and I thought you should know," she said with a sad smile, and he gave her a look that said it made him want to delve more into her and ask her everything. She hid her unease.

Petra made sure that Tiberius was secure in his baby carrier she had worn on her front, and then they set off with Garthan sticking close to her.

"Why do you call me Denarian Saal? The first time I get was to let me know you knew me –knew my rank –but you're still calling me that," he frowned at her.

She bit her lip. "I thought, after everything and you finding out who I was and that I was a criminal, you wouldn't want me being so personal and calling on you so intimately." Honestly, she thought he'd be upset if she went on to call him Garthan.

"Please continue to call me Garthan," he requested softly and she took a deep breath, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Okay…Garthan."

She started to walk first and closed the ramp behind them. She led him to where the main hub of the black market was located and she found her favorite clothing stall. The place was mainly legitimate, minus their stock of supremely accurate uniform replicas that included very convincing Nova Corps uniforms. She could see Garthan eying those racks unhappily.

"We're not here for those," she reminded him, directing him and hopefully his attention away from those clothes.

"Impersonating a Nova Corps Officer is –"

"Illegal, I know," she snorted, grabbing hold of him and pulling him towards a different set of racks. "But we're not here for those," she said again. "And we're not here to arrest anyone or do anything about those uniforms. Now…while we're here, why don't you look through these and see if you can find your size and get some fitting clothes."

She eyed him and the clothing he wore now, which were very small on him. But everything else she had from former male companions had been worse, seeing as at an imposing 6'8", broad shoulders, and an impressively built body, Garthan Saal was an amazing specimen.

She absentmindedly licked her lips, not knowing Garthan was watching and seeing her do so while staring at him with an intense look on her face. While a hot flush ran up his neck and burned to the tip of his ears, Petra was brought back to the night she met him and how she'd admired his form from afar and then closer up once she'd gotten her hands on him, especially when he'd been flushed against her and moving above her and sliding his hot skin against hers –

She blinked and looked at him sheepishly, seeing his blushing figure. "Heh, sorry, I got kind of lost in thought there," she admitted. "But you have to admit that you cut a very fine figure."

"…T-thank you…"

She did one last once over, smirking again as she pushed him towards the rack. "Find some clothing. I'll be over here where the women's clothes are."

Petra left him there and went to pick out some clothing she needed to replenish her wardrobe. She was quick there and then headed to where the baby clothes were, barely holding back her squeal at the new selection.

"So cute," she sighed happily, snatching up a tiger outfit and a frog outfit and then a panda outfit –

"Buying the whole selection?" she heard Garthan say in amusement.

She almost dropped her pile before turning and glaring at him. He held up his hands.

"Not everything," she pouted. "These are just super cute. Tiberius will be adorable in them."

"If we're dressing him up, too bad they don't have a baby version of those Nova Corps Officer uniforms," Garthan said and she eyed him with narrowed eyes.

"I can't tell whether you're serious or not."

He just smiled serenely at her.

Petra turned from him with a loud 'hmph!' and continued to browse through the baby clothes, picking out a few more. Garthan surprisingly picked three outfits that he added to the pile, which he scooped out of her arms and began to carry himself, along with his own clothing choices.

"That should be it," she muttered thoughtfully.

"Do we have the units for this?" Garthan asked hesitantly and she waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. I've still got enough money for this and some other stuff," she told him.

She went to get everything paid, with Garthan following after her quietly. Their stuff was even bagged up, and after checking on a sleeping Tiberius, they set off towards some other stalls. She got supplies of food and medicine, and they had to double back to the ship to drop off their things before coming back out.

She loved this place. It reminded her of the flea markets back on Terra that she and her mom used to go to, which led to her having a soft spot for this planet. She idly made that comment to Garthan, not really paying attention that she did.

"It is an interesting place," he commented and she looked to him. He gave her a small smile that she uncertainly returned. "Where else do you like to go here?"

She bit her lip and then grabbed his hand, leading him to the food market there, where it reminded her of the food vendors in the flea market that she used to sample happily from. Of course, being in space, the food here was a little more exotic, but she was happy to see that there was a few food she recognized from Terra.

"Ice cream!" she practically squealed when she saw the vendor. She turned to Garthan eagerly. "You _have_ to try that!"

Getting a scoop on a cone each, she began eating hers while watching Garthan. He furrowed his eyebrows, scrutinizing the ice cream. Giving it a tentative lick, he then blinked and looked surprised.

"This is…good," he said and she nodded knowingly.

"Isn't it? It's been so long since I've had it," she said dreamily.

They easily finished off their cones before Petra was grabbing his hand and leading him to the last stall she wanted to visit, which was her absolute favorite. Once there, she let go of Garthan's hand and eagerly browsed around.

"Well now, if it isn't Petra Quill!"

A grin grew on her face and she looked to an old friend. "Togar! Hey, you! Long time no see."

She came over and hugged the man, who reciprocated while being careful of the baby slumbering on Petra's front. Togar caught sight of Garthan and raised an eyebrow.

"And who's this?"

"This is Garthan Saal," Petra introduced before Garthan could say anything, even though he'd already opened his mouth. "He's a…friend." She glanced at Garthan unsurely.

"A friend," Togar repeated slowly, glancing between them and raising an eyebrow.

"A friend," Garthan affirmed, though he gave her a longing glance she pretended not to notice. "And the father of the baby."

Petra stared at him, not thinking he'd admit to something like that, at least not too easily. But Garthan didn't look bothered or remotely reticent in admitting that tidbit, so she inwardly shrugged it off with a small pleased grin.

Togar nodded, smiling slightly. "Glad to see you with Petra and taking up with her and the kid. Kid's cute, by the way. With parents like you two though, it's no surprise he'll grow up being a looker."

"Right?" Petra said proudly, while Garthan blushed again. Geez, was he not used to compliments to his looks? Which would be weird and a shame, since he was so freaking handsome…

"I've got a new shipment yesterday," Togar switched topic. "There's some new music, maybe a few of them DVD things your planet has."

Petra beamed at him. "Awesome, dude! Any more of the film for that polaroid camera I got from you last time?"

"That and I got even something better. Hold on, okay?" He disappeared around back and Petra looked to Garthan.

"This place sells a lot of Terran stuff," she said fondly. "I haven't been to Terra since I got taken from it, but this place helps me connect back to my old planet and when I feel homesick."

He looked contented at that, giving her a tender look she felt awkward receiving.

"That's good. I'm glad you have a place like this then."

Petra took a deep breath and looked away from him. Togar came back and then she was looking through everything, buying quite a few things. She always splurged and felt happy coming to this stall.

Afterwards, she and Garthan left and they were slowly heading back to the ship. But then she stopped, causing him to do the same, and then they were facing each other with him as puzzled as she was determined.

" _Petra, darling, those who you really love will be the ones who really know you."_

Garthan knew her way too well. Somehow he'd managed to wriggle his way under her skin and stay there, burrowing himself into her heart and mind like he was supposed to be there, like he belonged there.

He shouldn't know her so well when they'd only had one night together.

"Garthan," she said stoically.

He shifted uneasily. "Yes, Petra –?"

She quickly jabbed his stomach and slammed her palm over his neck after he'd bent over from the first blow, and then she took off in a burst of speed, running off and wincing as she'd woken up Tiberius and caused him to start wailing.

But this was for the best.

* * *

" _Garthan, I worry about you. You're always so alone –why don't you try to make some friends? I don't want you to be lonely."_

Garthan inhaled quickly and centered himself, blanking out the pain and straightening himself up.

" _Boy, one day you'll be older and you don't want to get too old. You make sure that you get yourself a wife, so you don't get lonely. You understand?"_

As much as his parents kept telling him, he never put too much effort or thought to their words. He'd been too awkward and then eventually he'd been too serious and strict to attain friends, until Rhomann came along. And as for a wife…he'd had no inclination towards either sex for most of his life, and only during his teenage and young adult years had he ever really had any relations with a few women (mostly during the Academy), until it became more sporadic and then practically nonexistent as he got older and became more dedicated and focused on his work and duty.

Petra really had been his first in a very long time, and it wouldn't have happened unless he had felt as connected and drawn to her as he did that night.

He wasn't letting her go without a fight.

Knowing she was slowed down by the baby and of the bags of things she'd bought, Garthan breathed in and focused. Where to go?

_This way_ , he could hear the Worldmind whisper in his head and he felt the Nova Force thrumming in his blood.

Garthan set off in a dead run.

Started 6/6/17 – Completed 6/6/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohh no. What be happenin' now, eh? Welp, that escalated pretty quickly. Poor Garthan is not going to be having an easy time of it at all, it seems. Better for us then! More entertaining XD Anyway, please remember to leave reviews, pretty please! They are my source of motivation and inspiration!
> 
> Quick Points:
> 
> 1\. Garthan's height: In the comics, he was 6'10", his actor is 6'5" (Chris Pratt is 6'2", so Petra's 6'2"), so I compromised and gave Garthan the height of 6'8"…Also decided on because James Comey is 6'8" and apparently really tall, and for some reason my mind associates Garthan Saal with the former FBI Director. Go figure?
> 
> 2\. Black Market Earth stuff: Lol, yeah there's that and how Petra has access to more modern music and shows, etc. Yay!


	7. Beautiful Delusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen to first "When I Go" by Over the Rhine for most of this chapter and then "It Ain't Me" by Kygo and Selene Gomez at the last part. Then you'll get why this chapter went as it did XD

So, so stupid –how could she have ever thought, even for a second, that she could have that perfect dream life? That, with Garthan marching into her life resolutely, that there might be a silver lining that she could grasp with her hands and keep for herself?

When she was younger, she had dreamed of fairytales and loved that Disney shit to bits –and even when she'd been picked up by Yondu, nothing had made her not want that fairytale and the happy ever after crap she knew wasn't real but wanted anyway. Even when Yondu or the others had told her kid self to suck it up and said none of that shit was real, all she did was stubbornly crave it and stomped on their feet and sucker punched their guts before running away to hide in a niche or something.

Garthan wasn't a prince, but he was actually scarily close to being a shining white knight. And for a moment there, she had let herself believe that maybe she could be that fairytale princess (like hell she'd be a damsel in distress though) and she'd get that HEA ending that dumbass girls like her still (even in secret) wanted to have.

And then she remembered her dad and her mom, and her mother crying silently to herself at night while spouting romantic nonsense to Petra and then reminiscing in sad but loving tones about a man from the stars that came and left her.

Maybe she was being scared off and being all premature worried, but she'd lived her life up until now in a guarded state and knew better than to let someone in. And maybe Garthan had good intentions and was an honorable, honest man, but she didn't chance anything and wasn't about to repeat her mother's sad love story just so she could mirror Meredith Quill to Petra's own son.

"Shh, shh," Petra tried to soothe Tiberius as she ran, one hand holding onto the bags she was tempted to drop and leave behind, while the other carefully supported Tiberius' head. But she paid good money for those things and she wasn't about to waste the units she just spent. She was a little anxious about all the jostling her running was doing to her baby, but she had no choice if she wanted to outrun Garthan.

She doubted she had done much but temporarily daze him, and that he was probably already up and after her. She inwardly mockingly laughed at herself; if she'd thought she'd even had a chance at knocking him out, she would be foolish. A Nova Corps Officer like him would take much more to be brought down than that, so she knew she only had a bit of time and only a short head start.

But it should be just enough, as she had the Milano in sight and she sighed in relief, quickly reaching it and opening the ramp. She dropped her bags and closed the ramp and headed to start the ship, only to freeze when she saw a stoic-faced Garthan already sitting in the pilot seat and watching her closely.

She sighed again, this time in resignation, and carefully took Tiberius out of his carrier, adjusting him into a more comfortable hold and rocking him gently.

"Let me settle him down and put him into his crib. Just…get us out of here," she said tiredly.

He nodded sharply and she left without another word. In her room, she continued to rock Tiberius, finally getting him calmed down. She carefully settled him into his crib and brushed his hair back, smiling sadly.

"Can we talk now?"

She reluctantly looked over her shoulder to where Garthan waited at the doorway to her room, and after another look to Tiberius, she turned and walked towards Garthan. Together, they moved to quietly sit in the common room.

"Why…how did I scare you off?" he asked, deciding to go first.

"Why would you say you scared me off?" she asked wryly.

"Why else would you have tried to run off without me suddenly?" he said frankly.

She frowned, but didn't know how to lie to that. "Before all this, the only time we met and knew each other was the night we slept together."

"And?" he raised an eyebrow, and somehow that made her want to hysterically giggle. The fact that someone like him was actually blasé about something like that…

"Aside from how much that should say about us and the flimsy 'relationship' we have? Despite that being our only experience with each other, you…for some reason, you know me so well. Too well," her voice cracked. "How can that be possible when we should barely know each other?"

"I feel like I've known you forever," he insisted and she made an aggravated sound.

"But you don't! And there are no guarantees you'll stick around –my asshole dad went and made my mom fall in love with him, and then decided to just go back to the stars and never look back. Then it was just my mom left behind and pregnant, and then she got stuck with me and we had nothing but each other most times. How do I know this isn't going to be the same? How do I know you're not just here for the moment and –" her rant was cut off as Garthan got up from his seat and strode over to her, leaning over her and holding her face confidently but softly.

"I don't know how to guarantee things or prove it to you, except over time. I don't have any way to reassure you right now, except for promises you'll just believe are empty. But they're not –Petra, I'm  _not_ going anywhere. I told you. And maybe you have a hard time believing that, but I'll just have to keep proving it to you over and over, until you finally believe it."

And the way he looked at her, just like that night so long ago, all tender and sweet and desire, and she was hooked on him just like she had been then.

Petra grabbed his hands and took them away from her face, at the same time as she surged upwards and planted her lips onto his.

* * *

Garthan had known he was going to be a hard sell to her. He was a no-nonsense Nova Corps Officer, the exact opposite of her, and he knew deep down inside that he wasn't the usual type of man she went for. Something that night and something about him (hopefully) had cued her to him, and this was where they'd ended up at.

And he also knew, from the moment she'd first hit him, that she was reacting to him because somehow he'd scared her off. He'd said or did something that made her defenses raise up, and now he'd heard it plainly.

He didn't know what kind of man her father was (though hearing what bit he did made him rather pissed at the man and even reluctantly consider that Yondu was the…better person), but he did know that he wasn't going to be anything like him and that he was going to do everything he could to prove that to her. The past deeply affected Petra, he was pretty sure of it now, and he would have to work through it to convince her that he could be a good father to Tiberius…that he could be a good  _partner_  to  _her_.

Even now, as she pushed up against him and claimed his lips in a show of dominance, he knew that her walls were still raised high. But she had crumbled for just a moment, right before she'd kissed him, and he must've said something or done something to cause it, just as he'd caused her to be so defensive in the first place. Right now she might've been between being vulnerable and trying to scramble some sense of control over herself again, but he had already seen the cracks and he knew he was capable of breaching her defenses and slipping through those cracks.

He just had to out-stubborn her.

And as he continued to kiss her, slanting his mouth and pushing her against the couch, slowly regaining the dominance she'd first attempted to claim, he knew that as hard as all of that was going to be, it was worth it –he'd have Tiberius, he'd have  _her_ , and he'd have his little family and allow this small possessive part of him to just whisper  _mine_.

All his life something had been missing. He'd ignored it and not thought anything of it. Now he knew what it was and he wasn't letting go.

After pulling away and with the two of them breathing hard, his thoughts pulled back to that kiss and he remembered how, looking at her swollen lips and her flushed face, he admitted her lips had lingered long after she'd left him back then, while her contented and sated face had haunted his dreams.

Cupping her face, he looked into her eyes. "Can I kiss you again?" he purposely asked this time.

He wanted to pull her towards him, smash right back against her like the tides of Xandar's oceans. He wanted to somehow show her through at least physical affection how much she affected him.

She looked back up at him, her eyes roaming all over his face as she stayed quiet right then. Her hands moved to grip his wrists, but didn't make him take his hands away from her face.

"I'm never going to love you," she said suddenly, making him involuntarily flinch. "I can't."

"Can't or won't?"

"Both."

He knew he was more stubborn than her and was willing to take all the time and effort to change her mind. Because despite however many times she said she wasn't ever going to love him, he couldn't find himself believing her words.

So when she kissed him again, he took the baby step as it was and kissed her back for all he was worth.

* * *

She could already tell he was going to be a stubborn idiot. But she wasn't going to be playing by his rules –he was going to play by hers.

So this? This she was going to enjoy and just roll with it. She knew better than to let it become anything more than that, to be more than what it should be.

That's why, after feeling herself get pulled into him again, she placed her hand against his chest and slowly pushed him away. She looked up solemnly, watching his face and feeling a deep ache at the tender look he wore so openly.

"I'm not that girl," Petra told him. "Before this, I wasn't ever going to settle down, find a man to be tied to. I know who I am, and I know I was wild and too much. Garthan, I don't know what you're expecting or what you want, but be realistic. If we never had a kid together, was I really going to be your first choice to be with?" He opened his mouth and she cut him off. "After finding out I'm a criminal?"

She didn't want to hear a protest or especially a confirmation, so she continued on. But she couldn't help grabbing one of his hands and kissing his knuckles, feeling something twist inside her.

"I'm not that girl," she repeated quietly. "I'm not  _your_ girl."

She really doubted she'd been his ideal girl, that dream girl he probably thought he'd end up with –whether that dream was thought up long ago, or whether he'd made up some idyllic version of her he'd thought up after meeting her that night.

Petra let go of his hand, letting him stay frozen in place as she slipped away from under him and got off the couch. She left him there as she headed to the cockpit and input new coordinates for their next destination, and then she went to her room. Bending over the crib, she smiled sadly down at her sleeping baby.

"We really did make one hell of a baby though," she said, laughing lightly.

She then carelessly sat on her bed and broke down crying.

Started 6/15/17 – Completed 6/18/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew my playlist was horrible for this chapter to listen to XD Especially listening to "It Ain't Me" by Kygo &Selene Gomez at the end there…I feel like banging my head at the fact I make it so horrible on my couples, lol. Ah well, I hope at least you guys are entertained (and sobbing). Please remember to leave a review and feed my need to be motivated and inspired to write more (peers suspiciously at the dwindling numbers)!


	8. Let's Learn to Fly Together

The piercing cries of Tiberius broke through her sleep and Petra gritted her teeth. Inwardly, she shook her head at herself and tried to motivate herself to get up and tend to her baby. She tried to remind herself of the times when this kind of thing happened and she had been struggling with motherhood and had tried to ignore the baby. She wasn't going to be like that. Not anymore.

But then Tiberius' crying stopped momentarily and her eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, only to falter and uncertainly watch as Garthan held and rocked their baby. A glance at her door saw that it was open and she wondered how he managed to hear the baby and when he'd come in (and how fast he'd managed to notice and come in). However, those thoughts were immediately pushed aside as Tiberius renewed his crying and Garthan looked uncertain and beginning to panic.

"If he doesn't want to be just held and rocked, then he's either hungry or needs a change," she said sleepily, slipping off her bunk and heading over to him. She leaned around him, ignoring the lack of space, and experimentally touched Tiberius' nappy. She scrunched up her nose.

"Yeah, he needs a change at least," she said and went to take him from Garthan.

"What do I do? How do I do that?" he asked unsurely while keeping a hold of the baby.

Petra eyed him before she grabbed the diaper changing foldup and laid it out on the bed, and then went to grab a fresh diaper and baby wipes.

"Lay him down and unbutton his onesie, and then push it up halfway…" She explained what to do and then took a step back, allowing him to take over and try to change the baby's diaper.

She felt her lips twitch up fondly as she watched, her eyes softening as she observed Garthan carefully doing his best to simply change a diaper, doing so as if he had never done such a thing before in his life (and she thought that was probably amusingly true). And when he was done, she directed him towards her attached bathroom to wash his hands while she picked up the baby and put away everything, throwing away the dirty diaper full of pee.

"Um…I guess I should let you go back to sleep," Garthan interrupted her spaced out daze.

She nodded indifferently to him and he shifted in place before reluctantly leaving. She frowned to herself, slowly rocking Tiberius back to sleep and looked at her closed door. Sighing, she went towards it and stepped out, only to be caught off guard by waking up Garthan, who'd been sitting next to her door and had been nodding off. She blinked. Well, that answered as to how he'd managed to hear Tiberius crying when he was actually right outside her door and not settled in one of the other rooms.

"No wonder you were quick to come in and help," she raised an eyebrow. "Come in."

He scrambled to stand up and hesitantly entered her room. "Are you sure?"

"If you're going to be stubbornly posted outside my door, I'd rather have you helping and not be aching and uncomfortable. Besides, I'm not that heartless," she huffed. She settled back onto her bunk and patted right next to her. "I have a huge bunk, enough for two people. If you're going to be helping out with the baby, at least you'll be comfortable and you'll be in reach and easier to get to him than out there."

He hesitated again, but ended up sitting at the foot of her bunk, taking off his boots and then scooting up until he was next to her. She shifted the baby in her arms and then carefully held him out to Garthan, who took the baby with care. Still, Tiberius was squirming and making noises.

"He's being a little fussy right now," Petra muttered, though she lay down and felt sleepy. She reached out for the data pad next to her and remotely set up her music to play. "Sometimes a little music settles him right down and he'll be asleep again…"

As she closed her eyes, hearing  _Blackbird_  by The Beatles playing in the background, she felt herself smiling to herself as she heard Garthan begin to hum to the tune and occasionally singing along to the chorus.

Right before she fell completely asleep, she felt Garthan's hand caress her head briefly and she instinctively wriggled closer to him, sighing contentedly as she drifted off.

* * *

Tiberius had fallen asleep in his arms near the end of the song, and Garthan contemplated what he was going to do. For one, he needed to contact Nova Corps (Nova Prime especially) and explain his disappearance and formally request a leave or something of the sort. After that, he needed to take a more active role with Tiberius and figure out how to be a father and continue to take care of him (and learn what he could from Petra). And through that, he could also prove and convince Petra he was a reliable partner and hopefully win her over, along with whatever other ways he could.

Her father was a hot button issue, but maybe if he could continue to show her he was nothing like what she knew of her father, and continue to just be there for her and Tiberius, he'd have a chance at this. She may not believe in him and in this, but he more than did and was willing to do whatever it took to get her to that point with him.

He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face though, as he looked down at his son and watched him sleepily blink his eyes and slowly fall asleep in Garthan's arms. But as he took a glance at Petra's sleeping figure, his grin softened and he felt longing.

Garthan knew he really wanted this. He really did, no matter what Petra's past was, or who or what they were. Maybe she had been (still was?) a criminal and he was an officer of Nova Corps, but he found that he couldn't dismiss her as just a criminal. Not when he remembered the way she touched him or the way she allowed him to touch her…but mostly he couldn't stop thinking of how she looked at him, like she trusted and cared for him and he had a feeling she didn't even realize that. Something about him had hopefully gotten her to instinctively trust him and open up to him, and he wanted her to keep feeling like that. Wanted her to  _knowingly_  do so…

Finding his son asleep and feeling the need to sleep himself, he contemplated whether to keep holding him or put him in his crib. Though he would like to not let go of him, he knew that the bunk was just enough to fit him and Petra and if either one of them moved too much the baby could be crushed between them, or if he moved wrong and he let go and Tiberius fell off the bunk. Wincing and feeling paranoid, he gently got up and headed to the crib, where he thought the baby would be safer. He wasn't a small guy either, and he alone could squish and suffocate the baby with his own weight. It was best to be safe, even if he wanted to keep holding onto him.

But without Tiberius, he didn't know what he should do or where to go. He looked at the bunk with a sleeping Petra on it and then carefully remembered and reran her words to him before, and tentatively took it as an invitation to stay with her in her room. With continued hesitation, he went back to the bunk and slid back into place next to her. Though his mind was busy with thoughts, he was quick to find sleep somehow.

When he next awoke, he felt groggy and almost willing to just fall back to sleep, but then there was rustling and quiet cries and he realized that Tiberius was waking again. It surprised him since he knew that Tiberius had woken up before already, and he wondered how long had it been? But then again, he'd heard from Rhomann how his little girl had (as a baby) frequently woken up in the middle of the night, and how between Cecile and he, they had nights of broken sleep all the time back then.

He was about to get up when he noted that to his side was cold and he could hear Tiberius was already settling down and was just sniffling. He opened his eyes to look over to the crib and saw Petra already there. The tiredness he saw from her before was quite obvious now, and he felt sorrow and guilt hit him. Life as a single mother must've been hard on her and he wished he had been there for them sooner. No matter how much he loved being in Nova Corps and seriously took to his oath to be an officer, he would have never have left these two on their own.

"I can," he stifled a yawn as he sat up. "I can take over. You can go back to sleep," he told her.

Realizing he was awake, she turned to him and gave a small smile and a shrug.

"It's fine. I'm already awake."

"You look tired," he pointed out.

She grimaced. "I look and feel tired, but I'm still wide awake."

He frowned, but forced himself to get up and head to her side. He stood quietly by her side and just watched her and the baby.

"He's probably hungry again," she noted. "I'll head to the kitchen and make him a bottle, if a bottle isn't already prepared in the refrigerator."

"I can check and then make one, if there isn't any," he volunteered, and she acquiesced and gave him a grateful look he relished. Heading out first, he saw that there wasn't one and then set out to make a new bottle of formula, remembering how she did it and replicating it down to the last detail.

By the time he was finished, she was in the kitchen and waiting for him to be done at the table.

He handed it to her solemnly. "Maybe right now we can't be partners and have a relationship like that…but we can be parents together. Right?"

Surprised, Petra just looked up at him. She bit her lip and he crowed inwardly in victory when she nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah, I can…I can see that," she said haltingly. "You're…you're a good dad, you know Garthan? Even though you don't know how to do things, you're…you're trying. And I appreciate that. And I…know he would too," she glanced at their son.

He took a deep breath and brushed her hair back. "I'm not your dad," he said quietly. "I may not know him, but I know I'm nowhere going to be like him or do whatever he did."

They stared at each other for a long moment and when she looked away first, he could only hope that meant that he was finally starting to get through to her, even if it was only a little bit.

"You're already 100% better than him," he heard her mutter, and he was going to start grinning again when there was a noise that signaled they were being hailed.

He looked to the communication panel and moved to answer it.

"Wait, don't!" he confusingly heard Petra say in a panic, but it was already too late and he'd answered it, with a semi-familiar man with blue skin appearing in view.

Petra was quick to push him out of view and he stumbled a bit.

"Yondu! What a surprise!"

Started 6/29/17 – Completed 6/29/17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, Yondu is going to find out~ XD What's going to happen? Probably chaos and murder, lol. Anyway, where is everyone? It feels like everyone's disappearing on me (pouts). Puh-lease remember to reeevvviiiieew! Pretty please? Reviews are my lifeblood, Revive me?


End file.
